1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to pharmaceutical tableting, and, more particularly, to a synergistic filler composition which provides increased tablet hardness and low friability at low compression forces without increasing the size of the tablet.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many commercial filler materials are used including microcrystalline cellulose and silicified microcrystalline cellulose inn the manufacture of pharmaceutical tablets. Such materials are described in the paper by Tobyn, M. J. in Int. J. of Pharmaceutics, 169, 183-194 (1998). However drugs which are difficult to compress require tableting machines which can operate at high compression forces in order to provide suitable hardness and low friability properties. Also, large amounts of the filler may be necessary to achieve these results, which, disadvantageously, increases the size of the tablet.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a drug tableting filler composition of two components which act synergistically with respect to increasing hardness and decreasing friability for pharmaceutical tablets at a given compression force, and without increasing the size of the tablet.
This and other objects and features of the invention will be made apparent from the following description of the invention